[PA Comic] Monday, July 30, 2012 - DayZ, DayZ

Geth

DayZ, DayZ
http://penny-arcade.com/comic/2012/07/30

RMS Oceanic

Leroooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooy........

Goose!

Not quite, RMS.

He's running away from, not into.

I started playing DayZ this week and immediately started singing just like the comic title.

Darkewolfe

He clearly hasn't played enough to realize that the real enemy is just other players, since the zombies are so easy to outwit. It's beginning to dawn on him, but that human would've also shot him.

DisruptedCapitalist

Though isn't that true of all MMO's Darkewolfe? Half the fun of playing online games is getting into a flamewar with some douche in a pick-up party.

TurielD

It's not so much about flames as it is about 'get shot in the back of the head forcing you to re-gear for two hours and try to find your friends on the 225km2 map again'. That's why most people are too scared to try to join up with other players, when perma-death/full restart is the risk, and the rewards are... uncertain at best, well, people don't take the chance and shoot-on-sight becomes the norm.

Actually I'm surprised it's Gabe in the commic, wouldn't have expected him to have the patience for DayZ hehe

Platy

Love to see the DayZ outfits.

The only times I managed to team up with other players were either when I was unarmed and met other unarmed players or when I was able to communicate with them without them spotting me.

King Riptor

TurielD wrote: »

It's not so much about flames as it is about 'get shot in the back of the head forcing you to re-gear for two hours and try to find your friends on the 225km2 map again'. That's why most people are too scared to try to join up with other players, when perma-death/full restart is the risk, and the rewards are... uncertain at best, well, people don't take the chance and shoot-on-sight becomes the norm.

Actually I'm surprised it's Gabe in the commic, wouldn't have expected him to have the patience for DayZ hehe

Thats actually surprisingly accurate in tone for a zombie story.

I mean it sucks for the game but still that's a smart way to make players act the part.

Platy

Shouting "friendly" instead of firing usually gets me shot into the belly or the head.

RMS Oceanic

Goose! wrote: »

Not quite, RMS.

He's running away from, not into.

There's still the basic principle of a player with no subtlety wrecking a finely laid plan, but I can see the distinction.

kingworks

People. They're the worst.

Zeraphael

Man, haven't tried Day Z yet. I'm being inundated from all sides about this mod though. I've been looking for the type of zombie survival game that isn't Resident Evil.

Gaslight

I was initially somewhat intrigued by this game, but basically all I've heard about it is that the zombies usually are no threat so the gameplay revolves around human players being assholes to each other. So, sort of like a more technologically advanced Urban Dead. And based on some of the statements I've heard reported from the mod creator in response to people pointing out these facts, the whole thing seems to be his deranged vision of a social experiment (which I also always suspected was the real purpose behind Urban Dead, actually). As I feel no need to participate in a social experiment to learn that people are assholes on account of I already know people are assholes, I therefore feel no compelling need to play DayZ.

Black_Heart

Gaslight wrote: »

I was initially somewhat intrigued by this game, but basically all I've heard about it is that the zombies usually are no threat so the gameplay revolves around human players being assholes to each other. So, sort of like a more technologically advanced Urban Dead. And based on some of the statements I've heard reported from the mod creator in response to people pointing out these facts, the whole thing seems to be his deranged vision of a social experiment (which I also always suspected was the real purpose behind Urban Dead, actually). As I feel no need to participate in a social experiment to learn that people are assholes on account of I already know people are assholes, I therefore feel no compelling need to play DayZ.

I feel pretty much the same way. I think I will stick with S.T.A.L.K.E.R. for my open world survival fix.

TychoCelchuuu

There's more to the game than "people are assholes." It's not like it's designed to teach you that. It's more about enabling the sorts of experiences that flow from that. "People are assholes" is not the point of Day Z. It is the starting point. Day Z is the game that builds on people being assholes. It's basically the only game that can do things like this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oQQ4N1kMv9o

Black_Heart

Well, essentially it boils down to people who like to roleplay and IMAGINE they are experiencing a zombie apocalypse.... which to me isn't appealing in the slightest. But then again I don't watch the Walking Dead and I like my games to have an actual objective beyond me playing pretend.

Platy

Zombies definitely are a threat in this game, they can knock you unconscious and in some places there can be a lot of them. I've died multiple times because I was knocked unconscious at almost full health, mostly by zombies attacking from behind which I didn't see coming.

If you're being followed by zombies and use your weapons, the gunfire usually attracts more of them and, most dangerously, alerts other players to your presence. The sound of weapons in this game travels over a huge distance.

What you can say about zombies though is that they are predictable.

This is one of my favorite DayZ videos, by the way.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3P0Hhti6ccU

Lucascraft

So Day Z is a zombie survival MMO?

Platy

It's a mod for ARMA II and its expansion Operation Arrowhead. There are persistent servers which usually allow up to 50 players. Characters are persistent across servers.

Bremen

It's not really a full MMO, but it has persistence from server to server.

Platy

Mediumdifficulty.com has a nice article on DayZ.

TychoCelchuuu

Rock Paper Shotgun also has a good series of stories.

http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2012/05/10/thank-you-for-the-dayz-part-zero/
http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2012/05/14/surviving-in-day-z-part-two/
http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2012/05/19/surviving-in-day-z-part-three-musings/
http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2012/06/08/ah-i-just-need-to-share-this-day-z-story/

Framling

Platypus Beirut wrote: »

Zombies definitely are a threat in this game, they can knock you unconscious and in some places there can be a lot of them. I've died multiple times because I was knocked unconscious at almost full health, mostly by zombies attacking from behind which I didn't see coming.

If you're being followed by zombies and use your weapons, the gunfire usually attracts more of them and, most dangerously, alerts other players to your presence. The sound of weapons in this game travels over a huge distance.

What you can say about zombies though is that they are predictable.

This is one of my favorite DayZ videos, by the way.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3P0Hhti6ccU

This just had me thinking "What does God need with a starship?"

Unknown

This content has been removed.

Cambiata

I would never be able to succeed at a video game that requires that I trick my fellow players. I have a heard enough time being mean to NPCs.

Moist

A sanbox multiplayer game is always going to attract people who just want to do evil shit but that doesn't mean everyone is like that. I was hiding in a barn the other day, freshly spawned and had just found a sniper rifle of some sort when I heard shots nearby. I hid for a bit before three dudes armed with shotguns burst in and I thought I was toast.

Turns out they actually crapped themselves, I heard them panicking in the direct voice chat 'Holy shit there's a dude with a sniper rifle..' when they didn't blow my brains out instantly I quickly typed 'Friendly' and we were suddenly best pals. A good evening of scavenging and battling zombies was had. We even made a campfire and had a meal before I logged off.

I am a firm believer that a lot of murder in Day Z would be solved by people wearing headsets more. I could be wrong of course, it is the internet after all but I always wear my headset now.

Dedwrekka

Black_Heart wrote: »

Well, essentially it boils down to people who like to roleplay and IMAGINE they are experiencing a zombie apocalypse.... which to me isn't appealing in the slightest. But then again I don't watch the Walking Dead and I like my games to have an actual objective beyond me playing pretend.

Actually, no. Surprising really. It's one of those games where gameplay evolves into roleplay naturally without any requirement for interest in roleplay. I may need to explain that a bit.
For one, there's no required grammar specific to the game. The game works entirely within the realm of "here and now". So no one talks with a specific dialect, everything is called what it is in the game, and the various materials don't do something completely out of the ordinary (Ie, food is for eating, not for healing, and bandages only stem the flow of bleeding, not heal you).

Also, interaction within the game is natural and human. There's no expectation of assholery, there's no rules at all actually. So everything you experience in Day Z is raw human reaction. You group with other people because you are safer in numbers. You don't trust strangers because you don't know if you can trust them. You avoid populated areas because you know there's zombies there. There's no explanation required beyond some common sense. It's also pretty ridiculous to come up with character backgrounds and the like because you're going to be changing characters a lot as you die constantly.

darkmayo

Just had to say that new Lookouts picture Gabe did is fucking fantastic.

The Good Doctor Tran

DayZ is a fascinating experiment that reveals the exact putrescence at the core of humanity. This comic is an apt description of DayZ.

Trisha Lynn

darkmayo wrote: »

Just had to say that new Lookouts picture Gabe did is fucking fantastic.

I'm damn surprised no one else has commented on this yet. I haven't seen this kind of quality of work from him in the regular strip, and I read the archives frequently. I really hope the Daughters story becomes reality.

fredphelps

Day Z isn't complicated... It is cruel, but not complicated. Arma II is complex. Day Z is... mean. If you stick with it, you'll get better. If you can get a group of 2-4, it will be a lot easier.

Odd phenomenon I've experienced... lately, I don't wanna log in. Not because it isn't fun, but because I'm paranoid as hell about all my sweet stuff...

You're supposed to die a lot in Day Z.

If you play on the same server, you can save a Camping Tent full of spare gear for when you die.

Doesn't matter, I still freak out now whenever I hear gunshots, no matter how distant. Go prone, panic attack, log off... average playtime now.. 20-30 mins. I am way north in the middle of nowhere, very unlikely to really have to butt heads with any players... Still paranoid.

Cambiata wrote: »

I would never be able to succeed at a video game that requires that I trick my fellow players. I have a heard enough time being mean to NPCs.

Moist wrote: »

A sanbox multiplayer game is always going to attract people who just want to do evil shit but that doesn't mean everyone is like that. I was hiding in a barn the other day, freshly spawned and had just found a sniper rifle of some sort when I heard shots nearby. I hid for a bit before three dudes armed with shotguns burst in and I thought I was toast.

Turns out they actually crapped themselves, I heard them panicking in the direct voice chat 'Holy shit there's a dude with a sniper rifle..' when they didn't blow my brains out instantly I quickly typed 'Friendly' and we were suddenly best pals. A good evening of scavenging and battling zombies was had. We even made a campfire and had a meal before I logged off.

I am a firm believer that a lot of murder in Day Z would be solved by people wearing headsets more. I could be wrong of course, it is the internet after all but I always wear my headset now.

Oh, in regards to "Bandits"... Day Z is not overrun with bandits. Maybe people get bored with "just surviving" after they get better. Maybe it is like any other game, or the rest of the internet, trolls are the minority... but far more vocal/noticeable...
Maybe its the weird paranoia *cough* some of us get while playing it. However, you hear people screaming FRIENDLY! a lot. In my experience, way more than people QQing about getting murdered.

Dedwrekka

Trisha Lynn wrote: »

darkmayo wrote: »

Just had to say that new Lookouts picture Gabe did is fucking fantastic.

I'm damn surprised no one else has commented on this yet. I haven't seen this kind of quality of work from him in the regular strip, and I read the archives frequently. I really hope the Daughters story becomes reality.

It's amazing quality, but honestly the look on "Mother"s face doesn't say "creepy" to me so much as "High as balls right now"

mnihil

Dedwrekka wrote: »

Trisha Lynn wrote: »

darkmayo wrote: »

Just had to say that new Lookouts picture Gabe did is fucking fantastic.

I'm damn surprised no one else has commented on this yet. I haven't seen this kind of quality of work from him in the regular strip, and I read the archives frequently. I really hope the Daughters story becomes reality.

It's amazing quality, but honestly the look on "Mother"s face doesn't say "creepy" to me so much as "High as balls right now"

For me, the creepiness definitely comes from the poems which get me far more amped up for the project.

It's funny to see the evolution of the Mother's face from angry in the preliminary sketch to mainly apathy in the inks to what, yes, might be perceived as... "intoxication" with the texture. I'm just not a fan of texture over-use. I really like the stand-alone, partially covered version, maybe even prefer it, especially in a comic context. I think the best part of the image is the Daughter's face, actually.

A complete Lookouts comic (instead of all that Kickstarter stretch goal stuff) they would sell over their store would be vastly more interesting than that 6-page thing, I think. But if this took Krahulik an entire working day, a comic page probably takes even longer, so I understand that that would be a dificult proposition.

Wammertodging

Sadly I'm pretty down on Day Z, the (as far as I know)individual person developing it announced he's monetizing it by Christmas, which gives him no time to fix the literal metric fuckton of performance and stability problems amidst his lofty promises of content where neither appears to bear mentioning. I never got to experience it at the depth of others due to these problems, as I imagine many others suffered from given the seemingly limitless flow of posts on their forums.

I would be loathe to see such an immense idea wasted launching an unstable alpha bent on a profit, truly.

Tofystedeth

Ars Technical had an interesting article about DayZ a while back too.
http://arstechnica.com/gaming/2012/07/the-healing-touch-dr-wasteland-brings-hope-to-day-zs-grim-world/

DexOZ

Dayz servers around have been getting a lot fuller in the last few days, to the point of having to wait to get in (oh-noes) ... I blame you Penny Arcade :-P